Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Stepping outside, Bai Fuling was thrilled to be met with a large trash can.

He had originally thought he'd have to wander around to find one, but the target was right in front of him! Talk about a lucky find!

The blond NPC who had appeared beside him earlier, Bai Fuling had only glanced at before deciding to ignore him for now.

He had to prioritize; he needed to loot this trash can before the midnight reset first, then interact with that NPC to see if there were any quests.

After all, NPC quests were usually always available. If he didn't have time today, he could just come back tomorrow.

Pang Chengyu stood there, stunned, flashlight in hand.

He watched as the transfer student happily pretended to rummage through the trash can, as if stuffing his pockets. Then, hurriedly putting down the lid, he quickly ran off further into the campus.

Before Bai Fuling got too far, Pang Chengyu snapped out of it and chased after him for a couple of steps: "Wait! It's curfew right now, you can't just wander around the campus—there are teachers on patrol!"

He quickly caught up, lowering his voice to remind him, "If a teacher catches you, you'll get demerits or even be sent to detention."

Oh, so that might start a fight. Bai Fuling thought to himself upon hearing this. But based on the school rules and his previous judgment, as long as he wasn't caught, he'd be in the clear.

He continued exploring forward.

"You'd better head back soon. This school is actually... Anyway, it's best not to get too many demerits." To reduce the chance of being noticed, Pang Chengyu turned off his flashlight and reminded him again, "I can show you the way; I know my way around the school."

"You know your way around?" Bai Fuling finally stopped upon hearing this, his eyes lighting up as he looked at the NPC beside him, having latched onto the key phrase.

So that's it, this NPC who suddenly appeared wasn't just some random encounter, but was here specifically to help him?

—It's here, the on-campus map guide assistant during the newbie protection period!

Come to think of it, this NPC had appeared before, assisting him with naming the game on that car. So this must be the real assistant NPC.

"Uh, yes." Pang Chengyu was taken aback by Bai Fuling's sudden enthusiastic attitude, then said, "So you can follow me."

"Trash cans." Bai Fuling said.

Pang Chengyu: ?

Pang Chengyu was utterly confused. He instinctively looked over and saw Bai Fuling staring straight at him.

The two faced each other in silence for a moment. Bai Fuling pondered in confusion: The NPC isn't moving, was the command wrong?

Standing still, he tried inputting the correct command to the blond NPC in front of him: "Guide, trash cans."

Bai Fuling: "Activate trash can tracking mode."

Bai Fuling: "Hello, I need trash cans."

Bai Fuling: "Request trash can marker display."

Bai Fuling: "Highlight trash cans on the mini-map!"

Bai Fuling: "Hello? Are you frozen? No reaction, that's weird. Hello? Reload."

Pang Chengyu: "…………"

With the transfer student's words echoing in his ears, Pang Chengyu felt as if he were back in the car that morning, his brain's cosmic thinking ascending to a new level.

—Although the other person was speaking human language, for some reason, he couldn't understand a single word!!!

Bai Fuling quickly ran through all the common RPG game commands, but he found the blond NPC in front of him just stood there dumbfounded without much reaction.

Huh? Bai Fuling was puzzled. Just now, this NPC had actively interacted with him, stating the basic trait of knowing the map. Logically, shouldn't he be guiding the player around next?

Could he be frozen?

Combined with the previous glitched pop-up windows, it seemed this game really wasn't very compatible with his phone.

Bai Fuling chose to reload, but the situation didn't improve much. The blond NPC still stood there like a statue.

Time was limited, and he didn't plan to waste any more time here—but the previous interaction couldn't go to waste.

So, while the NPC was frozen, Bai Fuling took the opportunity to swipe the flashlight the other was holding and pocketed it.

A player should grab whatever's not nailed down, highly implementing the "take-ism" principle, grabbing first and asking questions later!

Even if he couldn't find the remaining trash cans, getting a flashlight like this was a pretty good haul.

For future exploration of night secrets or dungeon diving, a flashlight was essential equipment. Bai Fuling thought happily. With a flashlight, he could unlock many more maps in the future.

Seeing the person in front of him reach out toward his hand, Pang Chengyu was stunned and tense for a split second. Then, he felt his hand lighten somewhat.

His eyes widened as he realized what happened, and he instinctively said, "Hey! Wait, the school's flashlight—"

"Don't worry about it." Bai Fuling said, "You'll automatically refresh tomorrow."

Pang Chengyu: Huh?

What does automatically refresh mean?!

He fell silent for one second, two seconds, three seconds. Seeing Bai Fuling turn to leave, he still lifted his foot and chased after him.

Having met several times back and forth, Pang Chengyu was unwilling to give up the chance to get to know him. He had sworn before that anyone who could anger his father was his friend.

Plus, his competitive streak kicked in; the more setbacks Pang Chengyu faced, the more he wanted to approach.

He refused to believe he couldn't have a normal conversation with the transfer student today!

"Besides me, there's one teacher and two other students in the patrol team. They were on the other side earlier. According to the patrol route, they'll be coming around here soon." Pang Chengyu whispered, "Be careful."

Bai Fuling confidently declared: "Oh, it's fine. I got new equipment; I can enjoy some combat."

Pang Chengyu: Enjoy some combat???

Bai Fuling glanced at the NPC beside him: "Can you fight?"

This was a very simple question. Bai Fuling purely wanted to know if this blond NPC was a combat teammate or an observer outside the combat system.

The blond NPC seemed to hesitate, words caught in his throat, a string of ellipses appearing above his head.

Seeing this, Bai Fuling didn't press further. After all, NPCs wouldn't respond to things outside their programming.

So this person was probably the type of NPC who hides behind during combat and comes out to applaud afterward, mainly providing companionship and atmosphere.

It's fine. After the previous battle defeating the red-named enemy in the alley, his experience points increased. Now his base health and attack power were higher, plus he had newly acquired equipment—so even if he was the only one with combat ability, he could still try to enjoy some combat.

At worst, he could run!

In martial arts, nothing beats speed. When you get points, put them in agility first.

Bai Fuling thought this as he made his character walk, preparing to continue searching for trash cans around the campus.

The NPC that had fallen behind stood still for a moment before catching up again. He finally said the words Bai Fuling wanted to hear: "Wait! Alright, I get it. I’ll take you—take you to find the trash cans."

Seeing the blond NPC finally, if belatedly, switch into guide mode, Bai Fuling naturally didn’t refuse. He happily agreed and followed Pang Chengyu, gleefully finding several outdoor trash cans before midnight.

Although not every trash can contained items, after rummaging through them, he still gained quite a bit.

His backpack gained [Rope ×1], [Unripe Apple ×3], [Damaged Water Bottle ×1], plus the [Flashlight ×1] snatched from the NPC.

Bai Fuling was satisfied.

He stopped his hurried steps, thought for a moment, then fished out an [Unripe Apple] from his bag and handed it to the NPC beside him as a gift.

Boost his goodwill, so next time he'll be my auto-guide again. That’s what Bai Fuling thought.

Pang Chengyu looked down at the unripe apple.

...If he remembered correctly, this was just pulled from a trash can, right?

He looked up, thinking the other was deliberately joking with him. But he saw the transfer student's clean, pretty face, his dark eyes glimmering in the moonlight with a completely sincere expression.

Pang Chengyu was quiet for a moment but still reached out and took it. He held the small unripe apple, its skin still carrying the warmth left by the transfer student’s palm.

"Thanks." Taking the opportunity, Pang Chengyu tried again to make friends. "You’re in Class D, right? Me too. We’ll be classmates from now on. My name is Pang Chengyu."

"Oh, hello." Bai Fuling nodded in reply. Hearing the blond NPC introduce himself, he suddenly had a brainwave and wanted to test if he could set his own name a second time in the game.

So, after pausing for just a second, Bai Fuling immediately added, "You can call me Daddy."

Pang Chengyu: ?

Bai Fuling and the blond NPC stared at each other, the air falling into an awkward silence for three seconds.

Alright, looks like you can't rename like that. Seeing this, Bai Fuling regretfully switched back to the initially entered name: "Oh, well, okay. You can call me Fresh Cabbage."

Although the name Fresh Cabbage was also ridiculous and cringe-worthy, Pang Chengyu finally heaved a deep sigh of relief—he was almost moved to tears now that they were having a normal conversation.

Man, it wasn’t easy—finally having a normal conversation and getting to know each other!!

"Alright! Cabbage, uh... Classmate Bai." Pang Chengyu opened his mouth but still couldn’t smoothly say the full name, so he just took the surname.

At the same time, Bai Fuling saw a new prompt appear on the screen.

"Unlocked Character - Pang Chengyu"

Oho, a new feature? Curious, Bai Fuling tapped on the character index on the screen.

The first page changed from empty gray to bright white, with the name in the center and a small headshot in the top left corner.

Next to it were several colored icons.

-

○ Pink Heart (18%): [Pang Chengyu] finds you unique.

○ Orange Circle (35%): [Pang Chengyu] is confused by you but may offer help.

○ Purple Triangle (0%): * (Hidden)

○ Gray Gift Box (?): Unknown event; triggering it might bring a surprise.

-

Bai Fuling scanned them and silently interpreted the icons’ meanings based on his gaming experience: favorability, willingness to help, and finally a special task? Only the hidden purple triangle icon in the middle he wasn't sure about.

Out of the blue, seeing this row of colorful icons, Bai Fuling suddenly remembered the red bar that had appeared above the character’s head earlier.

Hold on.

If the pink heart in the panel is the favorability value, then what was the red bar above the character’s head earlier...?

Bai Fuling thought hard.

Wow, so his heart wasn't racing from fondness but from fury!

Author’s Note:

Bai Fuling: Hahaha, the red bar rose so fast I thought I was a heartthrob, but turns out it’s the rage meter.

—

Current items in the backpack: "Wooden Stick ×1", "Money ×199", "Lighter ×1", "Cigarette Pack (Remaining 3) ×1", "Dagger", "Grain Bird Food ×2", "Rope ×1", "Unripe Apple ×2", "Damaged Water Bottle ×1", "Flashlight ×1"